Well I purchased these for my Deville at Pepboys on Friday for $33 a piece after their 30% off special pricing on Monroes. Was going for Sensa-Trac but they didn't have them. Does anyone have experience with this Monroe Gas Matic Strut?
Monroe Gas Matic Struts
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Originally Posted By: umungus1122
Well I purchased these for my Deville at Pepboys on Friday for $33 a piece after their 30% off special pricing on Monroes. Was going for Sensa-Trac but they didn't have them. Does anyone have experience with this Monroe Gas Matic Strut?
Yes as the matter of fact! Monroe shocks & struts is all I have ever used in my vehicles as a replacement mainly due to their availability in my area. Their just fine. My Dad owned his own gas station and when my he was in the business(retired in the 70's) he used Gabriel and Monroe as replacement shocks. Both were fine replacements. I'll continue to use Monroe's or Gabriel's when my vehicles are ready for new struts. I've also tried the Sensa-trac struts as compared to the regular Gas-Matic and I don't feel the difference. Maybe there is a difference but I can't tell. You've made a good choice. There are also a whole bunch of shock/strut comanies out there such as KONI, BILSTIEN, EDLEBROCK, and others. You'll have to be careful of some of these products as they are designed for performance and will deteriorate the ride for better handling. They are good products for their intended use and fine if you want a "HOT ROD CADILLAC" but for a normal replacement shock/strut, you did A.O.K.!
Well I purchased these for my Deville at Pepboys on Friday for $33 a piece after their 30% off special pricing on Monroes. Was going for Sensa-Trac but they didn't have them. Does anyone have experience with this Monroe Gas Matic Strut?
Yes as the matter of fact! Monroe shocks & struts is all I have ever used in my vehicles as a replacement mainly due to their availability in my area. Their just fine. My Dad owned his own gas station and when my he was in the business(retired in the 70's) he used Gabriel and Monroe as replacement shocks. Both were fine replacements. I'll continue to use Monroe's or Gabriel's when my vehicles are ready for new struts. I've also tried the Sensa-trac struts as compared to the regular Gas-Matic and I don't feel the difference. Maybe there is a difference but I can't tell. You've made a good choice. There are also a whole bunch of shock/strut comanies out there such as KONI, BILSTIEN, EDLEBROCK, and others. You'll have to be careful of some of these products as they are designed for performance and will deteriorate the ride for better handling. They are good products for their intended use and fine if you want a "HOT ROD CADILLAC" but for a normal replacement shock/strut, you did A.O.K.!
comanies...I meant companies
Back in the 70s, Gabriel shocks were big and very popular with po-boys who ran Camaros for they were cheep and tight. Fast-forward to 90s, Gabriels were as dead as the squeaky mouse toy in the corner of the kitchen... I've used their struts twice during the 90s and they both went dud within 10,000kms time and I gave up on them entirely (became part of the history book)
Monroe is ok deal but all depends on what you looking for and what you get. 1/2 of their stuff are reboxed units from other manufacturers (i.e. I bought a pair of Festiva rear struts in mid 90s sensatrac that came as Austrian made VW rebrand, with those said information stampted on the tube body but covered with a monroe sticky label over it)
Most other Monroes I dealt with for imports subsequently ended up being made/supplied/supplimented by offshore manufacturers, such as some Australian made sensatracs for my wifey's 93 Camry, Japanese made ones for my friend's mid 90s Corolla (rear, wagon), etc.
Ride quality is ok and most of the time they are not too far off from the car's factory original spec. Don't expect a better ride than what they claimed to be for some of them do not have that so-called dual valving for smoothness/bump response thingy that they claimed. Lastly, on a rare occasion, sensatracs may ended up being too harsh or vibrates on the highway or certain road conditions due to unmatched resonance between the struts damping characteristics and the springs, cusing the car to vibrate or the driving compartment to resonate. This is happening to my wifey's 93 camry on certain stretches of highway south of WA.
Bottomline: (1) you get what you pay for even with Monroes (2)Gabriel is dead and not worth investigating; (2)it is never a bad practice to have your struts/shocks replaced regularly for if they are worn, they are worn and your life is at stake.
Q.
Monroe is ok deal but all depends on what you looking for and what you get. 1/2 of their stuff are reboxed units from other manufacturers (i.e. I bought a pair of Festiva rear struts in mid 90s sensatrac that came as Austrian made VW rebrand, with those said information stampted on the tube body but covered with a monroe sticky label over it)
Most other Monroes I dealt with for imports subsequently ended up being made/supplied/supplimented by offshore manufacturers, such as some Australian made sensatracs for my wifey's 93 Camry, Japanese made ones for my friend's mid 90s Corolla (rear, wagon), etc.
Ride quality is ok and most of the time they are not too far off from the car's factory original spec. Don't expect a better ride than what they claimed to be for some of them do not have that so-called dual valving for smoothness/bump response thingy that they claimed. Lastly, on a rare occasion, sensatracs may ended up being too harsh or vibrates on the highway or certain road conditions due to unmatched resonance between the struts damping characteristics and the springs, cusing the car to vibrate or the driving compartment to resonate. This is happening to my wifey's 93 camry on certain stretches of highway south of WA.
Bottomline: (1) you get what you pay for even with Monroes (2)Gabriel is dead and not worth investigating; (2)it is never a bad practice to have your struts/shocks replaced regularly for if they are worn, they are worn and your life is at stake.
Q.
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Any specific shock/strut can be decent or weak -really a tough call. Monroe is certainly not a bad brand name.
My general advice is to get an upgrade over stock - whatever the mfr. considers premium.
My general advice is to get an upgrade over stock - whatever the mfr. considers premium.
So how is the ride? Improved? Like New? Better than new?
Didn't get a chance to install em yet, as I hit a deer with my truck and had to put that back together yesterday. Amazing how much damage a 100 lb. doe can do! Even bent part of the frame member that holds the radiator support cushion. Lots of cold Nov. rain today so I'll install the struts this week sometime. The struts that are on now have over 80,000 miles on em.
Originally Posted By: ediamiam
So how is the ride? Improved? Like New? Better than new?
If you are querying OP's results then it would be up to him to respond.
If you are responding to us poster's response then I would say: YMMV.
If you have some worn shocks/struts that failed to dampen the springs properly to begin with, then replacing them with new units, be it monroe sensatracs, gas-matics or even lowly Gabriels will definitely improve the ride (and to a certain extent, the handling as well).
If you think that monroe sensatracs or gas-matics are a good way to improve your new car came straight off of the dealer's lot then I'm afraid that you may be disappointed. Consider them as a replacement for the already expensive factory OE replacements as the ones on your car becomes old (5yrs+) (most new cars bought in NA comes with standard 3yr bumper-to-bumper warranty which also covers shocks/struts).
While gas shocks/struts are the best out in the market these days, regrettably no 2 manufacturers are of the same quality for if they aren't made properly, you'll loose nitrogen gas charge far sooner than what you would like to see. For example: on my previous Mazda B6 block (91 323), bought some KYB (made in Spain) and lost nitrogen gas charge in 10,000kms during normal city driving (70% city/30% hiwy). Replaced them with Japanese Tokico lumina and never loose any charge for 4+yrs afterwards. Case 2: wifey's 94 camry V6 replaced OEs with sensatracs (labelled as made in Oz) and they lost charge after 20,000kms and become just like ordinary, bouncy, soft ride afterwards. Never bother to replace them afterwards due to cost/time concerns even though they came with factory warranty (cost me 3hrs to RE&RE + 4-wheel alignment cost).
Case 3: replaced 86 Chev Sprint (my SCCA pocket racer) rear with monroe sensatracs and the ride was so harsh that the car literally bounced all over the road in the city. Replaced them with OE Showa(Jpn) and problem solved.
I have tonnes of stories to tell but frankly due to time and bandwidth I would rather not.
Bottomline: if your struts/shocks ride funny and you are on a tight budget, monroes aren't a bad choice at all. If you want some elevated performance then don't go cheep but to go with brand names like Konis, Bilsteins, Tokicos, or adjustable KYBs(make sure they are made in Jpn and not some other ccraapp).
Lastly, while you are at it, check/service/replace all your suspension components incl. rubber bushings, sway bar bushings, strut dust/moisture boots, strut top plate bearings, etc. for it makes no sense to keep a worn car on the road even if you put new struts/new tires on them, only to realise that they wouldn't handle the road in a safe, predictable manner.
Q.
So how is the ride? Improved? Like New? Better than new?
If you are querying OP's results then it would be up to him to respond.
If you are responding to us poster's response then I would say: YMMV.
If you have some worn shocks/struts that failed to dampen the springs properly to begin with, then replacing them with new units, be it monroe sensatracs, gas-matics or even lowly Gabriels will definitely improve the ride (and to a certain extent, the handling as well).
If you think that monroe sensatracs or gas-matics are a good way to improve your new car came straight off of the dealer's lot then I'm afraid that you may be disappointed. Consider them as a replacement for the already expensive factory OE replacements as the ones on your car becomes old (5yrs+) (most new cars bought in NA comes with standard 3yr bumper-to-bumper warranty which also covers shocks/struts).
While gas shocks/struts are the best out in the market these days, regrettably no 2 manufacturers are of the same quality for if they aren't made properly, you'll loose nitrogen gas charge far sooner than what you would like to see. For example: on my previous Mazda B6 block (91 323), bought some KYB (made in Spain) and lost nitrogen gas charge in 10,000kms during normal city driving (70% city/30% hiwy). Replaced them with Japanese Tokico lumina and never loose any charge for 4+yrs afterwards. Case 2: wifey's 94 camry V6 replaced OEs with sensatracs (labelled as made in Oz) and they lost charge after 20,000kms and become just like ordinary, bouncy, soft ride afterwards. Never bother to replace them afterwards due to cost/time concerns even though they came with factory warranty (cost me 3hrs to RE&RE + 4-wheel alignment cost).
Case 3: replaced 86 Chev Sprint (my SCCA pocket racer) rear with monroe sensatracs and the ride was so harsh that the car literally bounced all over the road in the city. Replaced them with OE Showa(Jpn) and problem solved.
I have tonnes of stories to tell but frankly due to time and bandwidth I would rather not.
Bottomline: if your struts/shocks ride funny and you are on a tight budget, monroes aren't a bad choice at all. If you want some elevated performance then don't go cheep but to go with brand names like Konis, Bilsteins, Tokicos, or adjustable KYBs(make sure they are made in Jpn and not some other ccraapp).
Lastly, while you are at it, check/service/replace all your suspension components incl. rubber bushings, sway bar bushings, strut dust/moisture boots, strut top plate bearings, etc. for it makes no sense to keep a worn car on the road even if you put new struts/new tires on them, only to realise that they wouldn't handle the road in a safe, predictable manner.
Q.
I put Gabriel shocks on my truck and they seem to be working ok. No problems there. Got the oil filled ones, 2nd up from the cheapest in their line.
I'm wondering when it is time to replace the struts on a car. Mine has 143000 miles on he original struts and still passes the "bounce test."
parimento - I would start looking for sales and deals.
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